Staurosporine is an alkaloid compound produced by fermentation of a suitable microorganism belonging to the genus Streptomyces. A suitable strain for staurosporine production is Streptomyces AM-2282 (NRRL 11184) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,297 and Ger. Offen. DE No. 2,754,326. Information is also available on the molecular structure of staurosporine (e.g., see Furusaki, Akio, et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 55 (12), pp. 3681-3685, and Furusaki, Akio, et al., J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., (18), pp. 800-801. Staurosporine is known to have antimicrobial activity (primarily against fungi) and is also known to have hypotensive and anti-edema activities in rats. Heretofore, insecticidal activity has been unknown for staurosporine.